His Second Choice
by Grace Rodgers
Summary: Darcy is engaged to Jane before reluctantly agreeing to marry Lizzy instead. After the tragedy that is their wedding, Darcy is lost in his own sorrow, oblivious to his young wife as she blossoms into womanhood. HEA.


_Summary: The Darcys and the Bennets are much closer socially. Darcy is in love with Jane, but a twist of fate forces him to marry Lizzy instead. No Kitty, Lydia or Mary. I have tinkered with ages slightly so the story makes more sense._

It was a crisp spring morning, and Miss Lizzy Bennet's mind overflowed with fears and expectations. Today marked the beginning of a new time in her life. Too long had she been powerless at the hands of her scheming mother. Too long had she crept about unnoticed, confined to the woods or the schoolroom. Today she was a child no longer.

But as yet Lizzy was ignorant of society. Although she was eighteen, her mother had neglected to bring her out, in the exhilaration of arranging an advantageous match for Jane. For many years, Lizzy had felt no desire to come out. She had only wanted to feel the sunshine in her hair and hear the crunch of earth under her heels. Indeed, how much better to be out of doors than out in society? She was free and wild as a bird. But such freedom carried a price. For many years Lizzy had been looked down upon and treated like an ignorant child. Over the past months her resentment at such treatment had grown until at last it boiled over into action. And thus today as Lizzy felt the soft heat of spring she thought only of society.

Then, as it was wont to do, her mind wandered. Her thoughts alighted mournfully on her own scant personal attractions. Her figure held few advantages. She was a fortnight past eighteen, yet still her body held none of the womanly plumpness and charm so evident in Jane's every ligament. Her face, though pretty enough, was nothing out of the common way.

Fully aware of her disadvantages, she was determined to assert her womanhood by making the most of herself. Jane's wedding was in three weeks, and Lizzy had nothing fit to wear. All her clothes were dowdy and plain. Her mother had placed all her hopes on Jane. She had no desire to show Lizzy to the slightest advantage, fearing she might steal attention from her older sister.

From now on matters would be different. If her mother would not bring her out, Lizzy would capture the attention of the world on her own terms. She had saved her pin money from the last two months, six pounds in total. Now she approached a dressmaker's shop in Meryton, determined to possess the finest rig that money could buy.

The day was still young, and the town was quiet and dull. Lizzy was aware of the impropriety of walking Meryton's streets alone. After Jane's wedding she would of course mend her ways. Today, she could flout decorum without the slightest censure.

She turned off the main road and entered the shop, closing the door with a bang that startled a young woman arranging silks in the corner. Lizzy's mouth went dry. Her mother had always ordered the fabric for Lizzy's dresses from a commoner store. Anna, their head maid, did the sewing in her spare time. Never before had Lizzy chosen her own clothing. The six pounds in her reticule turned heavy as lead.

The young woman looked up a sniff. "May I be of service?"

"Please, yes. I would like to see your mistress."

"I am no maid, if you please, miss. You may call me Mrs. Arthur. I can answer whatever questions you may have."

Lizzy reddened, but gathered her courage. "I beg pardon, madam. I was not aware." She was silent for a moment, then continued, "I wish to buy a dress to wear to my sister's wedding. Do you have something that would suit?"

"You are here all alone?"

"My mother is very busy with wedding preparations. I have six pounds to spend. Will that be enough?"

"I daresay it would suffice for a dress only. But you cannot be more than sixteen; surely you are not yet out? Are you possessed of the proper garments to be worn with such a dress?"

"Oh yes," replied Elizabeth. Her wardrobe would hardly impress this woman, but she could borrow whatever she lacked from Jane. "That is to say... I have no proper corset." She felt her face heating at the mention of such a garment.

"That is unfortunate. Have you a bonnet befitting a wedding?"

"No," admitted Elizabeth. Despite all her earnest mental preparations she had hardly thought of that. "Perhaps I do need more than a dress. How much can I purchase for six pounds?"

"A dress certainly, and perhaps the short stays to wear with it. Why not run home to your mama, and ask her for more money? You will need two pounds more at the least."

Elizabeth signed inwardly. Her mother was stingy, and would never relinquish two pounds to her ungrateful youngest daughter. Perhaps she could approach her father, who was probably walled up in his study as he always was. He would sigh, and look longingly at his books and newspapers with every begrudging word. She would necessarily endure much teasing, but would probably gain her object in the end.

Somehow, Lizzy's mind revolted at this prospect. This was the first day of her new life. She would not allow a snobbish dressmaker to spoil it. There would be no groveling or begging. Instead, she would make a bargain. Eying the dresses in the shop window, she gestured towards them and asked, "What would you charge for one of the display dresses, if were out of fashion and no longer needed? They are made small, and unlikely to fit most other woman."

Mrs. Arthur sniffed again. "Oh! Those are not available for purchase."

At that precise moment, a rich voice sounded out from the back room, crying, "Marie? Where have you got to? I need you"

Mrs. Arthur stiffened but made no answer. With a sudden lightness of foot, Elizabeth walked up to a door in the back of the small shop and rapped twice on its hard mahogany. The owner of the voice she had heard appeared, an impressive figure of a woman. She was plump and brown with eyes the color of caramel, crinkly and vibrant. "May I help you, miss?" she asked, her voice jolly. "I am Mrs. Carpenter."

Elizabeth glanced behind the woman at the endless, clashing rows of fabrics and dresses in various stages of development. "Do you have a dress that was never claimed by its owner, or that was returned? I need a dress fit for a wedding, my sister's wedding. But I have only six pounds. I also need short stays and a bonnet."

Mrs. Carpenter led Elizabeth back into the dim, colorful recesses of the room and lifted a dress from a pile. "This will do very nicely. It was made for a very young, delicate girl. But she died on the very day we brought it down to her house. You don't mind that?" Her eyes crinkled, and Elizabeth sensed that she was enjoying her story. She would never have supposed so motherly a woman to have such a morbid humor.

"I am not superstitious," replied Elizabeth, gaping at the dress. It was made of the finest, most translucent light green silk, and embroidered in its bodice with white flowers. "It is beautiful," she breathed, scarcely aware that she had spoken aloud.

Needing no other encouragement, Mrs. Carpenter set to work. She altered the dress slightly to fit Elizabeth's proportions, remarking all the while on how closely her figure matched that of the dead girl. The only great descrepency was in Elizabeth's larger bosom.

After much measuring, pinching, and general discomfort, Elizabeth was gladdened by a contented smile on Mrs. Carpenter's broad face. The dress was deemed perfection, and all that remained was for Lizzy to try it on.When Mrs. Carpenter had laced her into the dress, Lizzy could hardly believe that the maiden in the mirror was herself. She looked so pale and grave and womanly.

Mrs. Carpenter awaited praise of her own fine work, but at length she realized the expression in Lizzy's green eyes was praise enough. The dressmaker's happiness was complete.

Once her personal raptures were over, Mrs. Carpenter retreated in the far corners of the storeroom to fetch short stays and a bonnet. She wrote up a bill for six pounds, accepted Elizabeth's money, and offered to send a young man to Longbourn with the parcels. Not wishing to make a scene at home, Elizabeth declined.

She returned to Longbourn with her booty, fully prepared to inform her mama that Elizabeth Bennet was out in society at last. Her courage would rise at every attempt to intimidate her. She would not be pushed back into the schoolroom for the world.

_Disclaimer: A very small number of readers may noticed my story's similarities to Grace Livingston Hill's Marcia Schuyler. It isn't __listed as crossover since there's no appropriate category. _

_Also: as you know, I don't own any of GLH or JA's characters or plotlines. _


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